I'm not completely keen on how beatmaps are presented in this game. There's three inputs on each half of the screen, and it kinda makes me feel cross-eyed at points. My rhythm is already being tested enough, please don't test my perihperal vision on top of that. This is also just a personal issue, but years of playing Project Diva has conditioned me to treat the face buttons and the dpad as one and the same, which is just not how P3D operates.

It wouldn't be a modern Atlus game if it wasn't overpriced and didn't have oodles of day-one DLC. One of these paid DLCs gives you access to Shinjiro. Without spoiling a major plot point of P3 (for all of the people reading this who haven't played P3, even though I don't know why you'd play this game before P3 proper), having to pay money for Shinji is just insulting. This game is also just Persona 5 Dancing, it and P3D are one and the same. They even share DLC, which scummy in its own way. Kindly keep your acid jazz separate from my hip-hop and funk, please. It kinda feels like a P3 dancing game was made out of obligation, because it would look kinda scummy if they made one for P4 and P5, but not P3. I guess I can appreciate the sentiment, even if this game's bright neon aesthetics clash hard with the moody image of P3 I have solidified in my mind.

This game kinda lacks Persona 3's "soul". The writing is more lighthearted overall, which makes sense for the situation they're in, but it also sometimes misses the character dynamics of P3 as a result. The way my man Junpei gets treated in this game is heartbreaking. It almost reminds me of a certain someone... Regardless, it's more time spent with my favorite Persona cast, now with fancy HD character models. It's also now a bit of a last hurrah for the original English VAs. I can't be too mad about that.

I'm still not completely convinced that this game isn't just an anomaly. Atlus gave so much attention and spinoffs to Persona 4/5 over the years, it was kinda surreal seeing them finally acknowledge Persona 3 with its own standalone spinoff. It's hard to recommend this to anyone due to how it doesn't excel at anything specific. The P3 fanservice is pretty weak, and the rhythm gameplay isn't the best. It's not the most original project, but hey, maybe it greenlit P3 Reload in the long run.

While the songs were great, it also has too few sometimes if you don't count DLC. The costumes are really funny bust most of them are unlocked late in the game.

Alongside these points, the story is a nothing burger and it's just an excuse towards your next unlock.

However, it's worth pointing out that the modifiers can make the experience of each song quite different and the ALL NIGHT difficulty was pretty difficult in general.

It’s so nice to see these characters be joyful and just completely detached from the gloom of Persona 3’s plot. But, honestly, that’s all this really has going for it.

The soundtrack is just “good” I do think the other dancing games feature better songs overall.

I think the main charm of this, at release, was just the excitement of seeing these characters again and in the more modern Persona 3D style. But with Reloaded coming, it kinda makes that obsolete now.